Thank you Libro.fm/Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Flatiron Books, #partner for the finished copy of Workhorse in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio
Published: October 14, 2025
Summary:
A richly drawn, unsettling, and wickedly funny story of envy and ambition set against the glamor and privilege of media and high society in New York City at its height.
At the turn of the millennium, editorial assistant Clodagh “Clo” Harmon wants nothing more than to rise through the ranks at the world’s most prestigious fashion magazine. There’s just one problem: She doesn’t have the right pedigree. Instead, Clo is a “workhorse” surrounded by beautiful, wealthy, impossibly well-connected “show horses” who get ahead without effort, including her beguiling cubicle-mate, Davis Lawrence, the daughter of a beloved but fading Broadway actress. Harry Wood, Davis’s boarding school classmate and a reporter with visions of his own media empire, might be Clo’s ally in gaming the system—or he might be the only thing standing between Clo and her rightful place at the top.
In a career punctuated by moments of high absurdity, sudden windfalls, and devastating reversals of fortune, Clo wades across boundaries, taking ever greater and more dangerous risks to become the important person she wants to be within the confines of a world where female ambition remains cloaked. But who really is Clo underneath all the borrowed designer clothes and studied manners—and who are we if we share her desires?
Hilariously observant and insightful, Workhorse is a brilliant page-turner about what it means to be in thrall to wealth, beauty, and influence, and the outrageous sacrifices women must make for the sake of success.
My thoughts:
This was my last read of 2025 and what a winner it was!! I absolutely loved this debut…and was thrilled it was picked for the latest CBS New York Book Club @clubcalvi pick!
As for this book…I loved the Devil Wears Prada vibes it gives off, while also feeling completely unique. I loved that even though the characters are not necessarily likeable, they are so well developed and engaging that you want to continue reading about them.
This book is messy in the best way. We follow Clo who starts working at a fashion magazine and is soon matched up with Davis. A mentorship of sorts begins, but eventually that line between professional mentorship, friendship and jealousy blurs. Clo is desperate to fit in and her ambition drives her to do things that are questionable at best.
This book, though long, kept me fully engaged start to finish. From the insights into the magazine world itself to high society life, to dysfunctional relationships of all kinds, there is so much packed into this book…and I could have read another 100 or so pages — probably in the minority here, but so be it! That’s how much I loved it! And you better believe if Caroline Palmer writes another book, I’ll be 1st in line to read it!!
Audio thoughts:
I did an immersive read with this, going back & forth between audio and print so I didn’t have to stop. Helen Laser does an amazing job bringing this story to life.
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